


Home Is Where You Are

by AbschaumNo1



Series: Hermitcraft Fantasy AU [8]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dogs, Established Relationship, Fluff, Horses, I'm as surprised as you are, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Sword Fighting, Tango has braincells, Violence, it's not terribly graphic i think but better be safe than sorry?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbschaumNo1/pseuds/AbschaumNo1
Summary: Tango and Doc are late to return home from their trip to the city. Tango just hopes he won't miss his and Impulse's anniversary completely.
Relationships: Impulse/Tango
Series: Hermitcraft Fantasy AU [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635238
Comments: 13
Kudos: 72





	Home Is Where You Are

**Author's Note:**

> This started as me going "I feel underprepared for Valentine's Day fic-wise," and somehow ended with this and world building and stuff and I am still confused.  
> It is also 4am as I am posting this so there's that.  
> It's currently almost entirely unedited, but uh... I shall do that after I sleep.  
> Anyways...
> 
> Happy Valentine's Day!
> 
> Title from Seven Wonders from Catch Me If You Can the Musical
> 
> Edit 2020.02.15: Updated after a round of minor edits. Mostly just cleaning up some bits I thought could be better.

With a grunt Tango parried the sword of his attacker and pushed back, his own strikes much more precise and effective than theirs, until he had them cornered against the cliff, the sheer rock pressing against their back.

"Last chance, buddy," he said, one eyebrow raised, but they only sneered at him, and with a shake of his head he plunged his sword right in between their ribs.

He looked around when he straightened up from wiping his blade clean on his attacker’s cloak. Doc had made quick work of his opponent as well, the spikes of his trident still poking out of their neck. With another cautious look around Tango approached Doc as he pulled his trident out and grimly looked down at the corpse.

“They’re getting bolder,” he said.

Tango nodded. “We should bring it up with Xisuma when we get back, see what he says.”

“Yeah,” Doc went down on one knee and quickly searched through the attacker’s pockets, unearthing a few coins, but nothing that could tell them anything about who they were and why there were here.

“Let’s get rid of the bodies,” Tango said with a sigh. “If we’re quick we can still reach the inn before nightfall.”

Doc nodded and together they quickly dug two graves and tossed the bodies in. It wasn’t nice work, but they could show that much respect before moving on.

Once they had closed the graves, and had found their horses again, they could finally move on. And as Tango looked ahead, along the road that would lead them home, he couldn’t help but feel excited. Maybe he would still make it in time.

They cut it close, but they just about managed to reach the inn before it was fully dark. It was a welcome sight, set on a small hill by the last fort before they would fully enter the mountains. It was the very edge of the area that had become known as the Hermitlands, the point at which all of them felt their shoulders relax and something ease and bring a spring to their steps that wasn’t there when they travelled away from home.

Tango followed Doc as he guided his horse through the fort and up the path towards the tavern, the warm glow of the lanterns in the courtyard a welcome sight in the dark. Kell, the innkeeper was sure to have a warm meal and a bed waiting for them, and if they made good time tomorrow Tango wouldn’t have to miss Impulse on their anniversary after all.

He was so deep in thought as he dismounted that he barely even registered the click of the door until something white shot out and jumped at him. His initial confusion turned into booming laughter by the time he was on the ground with an excited dog licking his face. It took him a while to get the dog off him, but if there had been any doubt left its collar and its wagging tail told him that it was one of Impulse’s rowdy bunch.

Tango was still grinning when he ruffled through its fur and told it, “I missed you too, buddy.”

When he straightened up, Kell was standing in the door, watching them.

“Master Tango, Master Doc, it’s good to see you back,” he said. He shook his head when he caught Tango’s questioning look. “It’s just the dog. It turned up a few days ago. Has been waiting ever since.”

Tango nodded. It made sense, Impulse was sure to have his own projects to deal with, and even if he got worried, it wasn’t too unusual for any of them to take longer than planned to return.

“Thank you for taking care of him, Kell,” he said.

“Not like I don’t know how it goes,” Kell said with a shrug and a wry smile. He stepped to the side. “Come on in. My boys will take care of the horses and bring your packs up to your rooms.”

”Thanks Kell,” Doc said, as they both stepped inside.

Kell directed them towards a table in the corner of the room and went to fetch food and ale.

Doc gestured at him to sit down once he had brought their dinner and with a serious look on his face asked, “Kell, have you heard anything about attacks on the road?”

“Not more than usual, no,” Kell said, shaking his head. “One of the merchants said a few days ago that he saw someone slinking through the trees a few miles away from here. They thought it was just a hunter though.”

Tango exchanged a look with Doc.

“That could have been close to where we got attacked,” Tango said.

“That’s what I just thought.” Doc nodded.

Kell’s eyes widened. “You got attacked on your way here?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Doc said, clapping a hand on Kell’s shoulder.

“If you hear any rumours about dangers on the road send a message to us though,” Tango said. “It’s probably nothing, but better be safe than sorry.”

Kell nodded. “I will. I’ll also ask around the villages down here if anyone has heard anything.”

“Thank you.”

Kell nodded again as he got up. “I’ll leave you to your dinner then. I’m sure you’ll want to be on your way as early as possible tomorrow.”

Doc and Tango only nodded before they both tucked into their food. They were silent for a while, too busy eating to talk. Tango snuck a few pieces of meat to the dog lying heavy on his feet, but considering the amused expression on Doc’s face he wasn’t subtle enough about it.

Finally they both pushed their plates away and leaned back.

Tango took a long sip of his ale before he said, “So they were waiting for us specifically.”

Doc nodded. “Seems like it. And they’re getting pretty close.”

”We’ll definitely have to bring this up with Xisuma. If anyone’s coming this close to the Hermitlands to attack us, he’ll want to know.” Tango sighed and looked around the tavern. “I just hope it’s not anything worse than the usual.”

“You and me both man,” Doc said. “You and me both.”

Tango had the best night of sleep in a while. For one there was the unrivalled comfort of finally sleeping in a bed again, but paired with the knowledge that home wasn’t far away now and that it wouldn’t be long until he could finally wrap his arms around Impulse again and wake up next to him instead of alone by a fire. The dog that had insistently wormed his way under the covers with him in the full knowledge that he loved to indulge all of Impulse’s dogs, helped too. The fur in his face and the dog smell were just as familiar as Impulse’s presence next to him.

If he had known that it would take them so long to get back he wouldn’t have agreed to accompany Doc on his trip to the city. But it was supposed to be nothing but a short trip to gather some supplies, a routine trip that wouldn’t take more than a few days and get him back with time to spare before their anniversary.

Neither of them had expected to run into as many problems as they did. Flooding had forced them to take a detour and cost them several days, and then they had run into more bandits than usual.

But it would all be good now. They would leave early in the morning, and arrive home by the afternoon. It wouldn’t be the day Tango had planned but it would have to do. They could always make up for the lost day later.

Whether it was due to both them wanting to get home, or Doc just indulging Tango, they left when it was still dawn, and rode as fast as they dared to risk on the increasingly steep mountain roads. The dog scouted ahead occasionally, but for the most part it stuck close to Tango’s horse, always mindful not to startle the other animal.

By early afternoon they finally reached the crossroads where the road up to the Hermitage itself branched off the main road, and Tango practically drank in the sight of the castle looming over the plateau of Hermitville.

The castle itself was only the entrance to the Hermitage, a home for those hermits, who hadn’t built their own homes yet, as well as their communal areas, some storage and office spaces.

The original build had been done by Xisuma and Ex, but others had updated and added parts to it over time, and Tango would never get bored of spotting who had worked on what. There was the distinct shape of a tower that False had added, the shine of the diorite tower Iskall had begrudgingly congratulated Bdubs on, and of course the intricate terraforming Scar had done to shape the mountains to their needs.

It was a magnificent build, and it made Tango’s heart soar to see it. Without even thinking he pushed his horse to go faster, going from the fast canter into a full gallop, his dark read cloak streaming behind him, the dog happily running at his side.

He could hear Doc laugh behind him, and he didn’t have to check to know that he wasn’t far behind, just as glad to get home as Tango was.

They had to slow down to go up the path to the castle gates, but Tango was still grinning happily when they rode into the courtyard, horses sweating and panting, and jumped down from the saddle.

He could see his grin mirrored on Doc’s face, when he clapped him on the shoulder.

Doc’s grin softened a little as he squeezed Tango’s shoulder and said, “You go on. I know what this day means to you. I’ll take care of the horses and talk to Xisuma.”

“You sure?”

Doc nodded. “Yes. Impulse will be waiting for you, I’m sure.”

“Thanks man.” Tango gave him a quick hug, before he gave a low whistle for the dog to follow him, and quickly walked across the courtyard and passed through the gate to follow the road up to the second courtyard.

On one side of this courtyard stood a second gate house, its gates thrown wide open to allow the look out over a second plateau, ringed by high mountains, most of which had been constructed by Scar to tower over the plateau as sharp peaks, creating an additional line of defence, and making the castle the only way to get inside.

The plateau itself stretched out below. It had been an empty space once upon a time, but over the years he had spent as a hermit already, Tango had watched building after building spring up as every Hermit added their own personal touch to their home. But Tango didn’t have time to appreciate everyone’s building skills right now.

He quickly dug through the ender chest standing inside the gate house to retrieve his elytra, and slipped it on. He would need more rockets than usual to carry the dog as well, but he didn’t have the patience to walk over to where Impulse had built his base into the side of a mountain, with its large windows looking out over the plateau. It was a short flight, even with the added weight, and soon enough Tango touched down on the birch planks in front of the entrance to the house.

He set down the dog, put his elytra and the rockets back into the ender chest just inside the entrance, and went looking for his partner.

He found Impulse asleep on the couch in the living room, surrounded by the rest of the dog pack, who immediately peeked over the back of the couch when they heard Tango approach. He shushed them, before he snuck around so he could actually see Impulse’s face. He looked peaceful, one of his arms wrapped around a dog, clutching its fur, and Tango had to smile fondly. His heartbeat still picked up like it had done all those years ago when Impulse had joined them, and before he knew it, he had reached out and brushed a hand through Impulse’s hair.

Impulse stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, but as soon as he recognised Tango in front of him, a smile spread over his face.

“You’re back,” he said.

“Just arrived a few minutes ago. Doc’s taking care of everything else.”

Impulse’s smile grew wider, and Tango just had to lean in and kiss him. The angle wasn’t as perfect as it could have been, but Tango couldn’t bring himself to care. His hand, fingers still in Impulse’s hair, slid down to rest on his neck, while the hand that Impulse had had knotted in the dog’s fur slid up Tango’s arm until he had his arm wrapped around Tango’s neck.

Tango’s eyes fell shut as Impulse opened his mouth and deepened the kiss. He sank into it, even if he wasn’t in the most comfortable position for this. But there was no way he was thinking about that right now, not with the way Impulse seemed to melt into the couch under his touch.

In the end Tango had to end the kiss because none of the dogs seemed willing to move. Impulse smiled at him a bit stupidly from underneath his pile of dogs, and somehow, even after all these years, it still took Tango’s breath away to see him like this. He almost leaned back in, but the dog closest to him decided to use that moment to get its snout into Tango’s face, and he had to lean back out of the way. Laughing, he pressed a quick kiss to the dog snout, before he turned his head towards Impulse again, who was watching him with a soft expression on his face.

Tango smiled at him, before he got up and ordered the dogs down from the couch so he could reach Impulse properly. When he climbed on the couch, he was immediately pulled down into another short kiss before Impulse smiled up at him.

“Happy anniversary,” Tango said, smiling back helplessly.

“It’s better now that you’re here.” And god, Impulse looked so happy just to have him here that it made Tango speechless for a moment.

He swallowed and took a breath, before he said, “So I had planned stuff for today, but I’m thinking that maybe we could reschedule that and just spend the rest of the day making up for lost time. In the bedroom.”

Impulse laughed and this time his kiss had something searing to it, a new edge that Tango was only too willing to accept. It took him quite a bit of manoeuvring and a bit of stumbling, but finally he managed to stand up, taking Impulse with him. He had to balance himself with one hand on the back of the couch for a moment, but then Impulse wrapped his legs around his hips and started kissing along his jaw, and he had to force himself to step away, his arms safely wrapped around Impulse. He shot the dogs a look, but for once they didn’t look like they were going to follow them.

He made it as far as the wall by the stairs up to their bedroom before he had to press Impulse against the wall and kiss him senseless. He kept one hand against the wall as he carried him up the stairs, where he could lay him down on their bed and crawl over him.

Impulse let his head fall back as he caught his breath, and smiled up at Tango.

“Hey there, beautiful,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Tango had to laugh. “Right back at you,” he said, smiling, before he leaned down to kiss him again.

Tango woke up when the first rays of sun started peeking across the mountains into the Hermitage. Next to him, Impulse was still fast asleep, his arms wrapped tightly around Tango. Tango smiled and kissed his forehead. And as he looked down at Impulse’s peaceful face, he thought about the plans he had had for their anniversary, and the ring that was still hidden away in his ender chest, and he knew without a doubt that he had made the right decision.


End file.
